News Brief

June 23, 2008

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning Arab censorship and officially sanctioned anti-Semitism. The non-binding resolution passed by unanimous acclamation Wednesday “strongly condemns the endemic restrictions on freedom of the press and expression in the Arab world and the concurrent and widespread presence of anti-Semitic material, Holocaust denial, and incitement to violence in the Arab media and press.” It also “expresses deep concern that some Arab governments, including some that are involved in multilateral efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, use their government-owned, government-sanctioned, or government-controlled publishing houses and media to promulgate insidious, incendiary, and poisonous speech regarding Israel and the Jewish people that makes United States efforts to help resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict all the more difficult.” The resolution calls on the president and U.S. allies to make the censorship and anti-Semitism an issue in their dealings with the Arab world. It was initiated by U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), the Jewish chairman of the House Middle East subcommittee.